Fourth day without gas: energy crisis in Transnistria opens up new opportunities for Moldova

Fourth day without gas: Transnistria's energy crisis opens up new opportunities for Moldova Angela Figin

Russian Gazprom announced the cessation of gas supplies to the unrecognized Transnistria from January 1 due to “failure to fulfill payment obligations.” That's why the separatist enclave in occupied Transnistria celebrated the New Year in an energy crisis.

Despite the difficult situation in the region, Tiraspol refuses Moldova's help in purchasing gas on European markets – they are waiting for the Russian Gazprom to resume supplies. Marianna Prisyazhnyuk, a political analyst at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and coordinator of the Delta-24 project, told Channel 24 more about the situation.

Will the crisis deepen?

The Delta-24 project coordinator noted that such a situation has arisen for the first time in the pro-Russian unrecognized enclave of Moldova, because previously all of Gazprom's pressure was directed at the government in Chisinau, which in recent years has negotiated de facto free gas for occupied Transnistria.

I think that the Moldovan government should have met the energy crisis as a window of opportunity to stimulate historical dialogue. Here it should have emphasized providing assistance to the left bank, if Moldova considers Transnistria as its territory, and welcomed the fact that Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas through its territory, and not emphasized Gazprom's manipulations, – said Prisyazhnyuk.

At the center of this energy dependence are several enterprises. It is worth understanding that the negotiations on gas supplies were conducted by the company JSC Moldovagaz, whose shareholders include, in particular, Gazprom, Moldova and the Tiraspol company Tiraspoltransgaz.

According to the political analyst of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, the crisis will not deepen, because Transnistria is in fact a powerful industrial zone that existed thanks to this energy dependence and the enterprises that Russia criminally subjugated. For example, the Moldovan State District Power Plant, which is an “importer” of electricity to the right bank, belonged to the Russian energy company Inter RAO UES.

“This crisis creates a certain window of opportunity, and I would like both Moldova and the Ukrainian side to use them. I hope that Ukraine is also working in this direction. The first step for reintegration would be logical de-occupation, that is, the withdrawal of the Russian continent from the territory of Moldova,” added Prisyazhnyuk.

What preceded this

Recall that from January 1, 2025 Ukraine has stopped the transit of Russian gas, which continued to be received by several EU countries and the unrecognized Transnistria.

The official government of Moldova did not agree to Russia's demands to supply gas to Transnistria via an alternative route through the Balkans. In response, Russia's Gazprom has stopped gas supplies to Transnistria since January due to “failure to fulfill payment obligations.”

According to preliminary data, the region will have enough gas for 10 to 20 days. In the south – a little longer, and in the north – up to 10 days.

Currently, the supply of heat and hot water to residential buildings in the unrecognized Transnistria has been stopped. In multi-story buildings, gas is only available for cooking.

Industrial enterprises suspended operations on January 2 due to a shortage of energy resources. Rolling power outages were introduced on January 3 due to excessive energy consumption.